Media Visit Policy

Thank you for your interest in Bardstown and Nelson County, Kentucky. Bardstown is the Bourbon Capital of the World™ and The Most Beautiful Small Town in America, via Rand McNally and USA Today. The Bardstown – Nelson County Tourism & Convention Commission welcomes journalists and is here to offer assistance with interviews, media kits, story ideas, itineraries, images, and individual press trips. Requests for complimentary access or media rate accommodations, meals and activities are handled on an individual basis.

To most effectively meet your needs, please read these guidelines and provide the requested information via our online form below. Someone will reach out to you shortly after submission.

Guidelines

To best accommodate you and the host businesses, please give Bardstown – Nelson County Tourism & Convention Commission a minimum of ten (10) business days’ notice before arrival.

Accommodations are provided at the discretion of the host businesses and are subject to availability and the interest of each lodging partner.

Blackout dates may occur throughout the year.

Our primary concern is assisting working press. Therefore, host locations are usually unable to accommodate spouses, children, and accompanying working press.

Requests for complimentary accommodations, meals and activities are handled on an individual basis.

Unfortunately, Bardstown – Nelson County Tourism & Convention Commission cannot provide airfare or mileage reimbursement for your trip.

The Bardstown – Nelson County Tourism & Convention Commission is happy to help facilitate interviews and offer suggested itineraries with attractions, activities and dining options that fit your editorial needs. Please check out the resources below and contact us for further assistance.










    Media Resources

    Fingertip Facts

    Historic Bardstown

    • Founded in 1780, Bardstown is Kentucky’s second-oldest city.
    • Officially recognized as the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” with nine distinct bourbon distilleries all within 16 miles of beautiful downtown Bardstown. Two more distilleries will be finished by 2022.
    • Named “The Most Beautiful Small Town in America” in 2012 by USA Today and Rand McNally.
    • Home to dozens of wonderful locally-owned restaurants and shops.
    • More than 300 buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, with nearly 200 in the downtown district.
    • Bardstown is rich in religious heritage attractions, including the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the first Catholic cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains, and the Abbey of Gethsemani.
    • Population: 13,165 (as of 2017).

    Contact Us!

    Address: One Court Square, Bardstown, KY 40004

    Phone: 1-800-638-4877 / 502-348-4877

    Email

    Story Ideas

    Bourbon

    The Bourbon Capital of the World!

    • Bardstown is the Bourbon Capital of the World® and an official trailhead of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®
    • Visit one or more of nine(!) bourbon distilleries, all within 16 miles of downtown Bardstown. Two more distilleries are in planning and will be distilling bourbon by 2022.
    • Shop the Blind Pig Bourbon Marketplace
    • Eat, drink and sleep at the luscious Bourbon Manor Bed & Breakfast
    • Visit Whisky Magazine’s Attraction of the Year: Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History

    Stephen Foster

    Stephen Foster (July 4, 1826 – Jan. 13, 1864)

    • The “father of American music” Stephen Collins Foster
    • Wrote 286 works in less than 20 years
    • Composed the songs “Oh! Susanna,” “Camptown Races,” “Beautiful Dreamer” and Kentucky’s state song, “My Old Kentucky Home”
    • His story and music live on at My Old Kentucky Home and the outdoor, Broadway-style musical The Stephen Foster Story. at the park’s amphitheater
    • Interview: Johnny Warren, Managing Artistic Director at Stephen Foster Productions, JohnnyW@StephenFoster.com, 800-626-1563; 502-348-5971

    Museum Treasures

    Museum Treasures

    • The Civil War Museums of the Western Theater at Old Bardstown Village houses artifacts such as a doctor’s field kit, amputation saws, the drums of the 10- and 11-year-old drummer boys, soldiers’ letters to home.
    • Ranked one of the top four Civil War museums in the nation.
    • Exhibits also include battle flags, maps, weapons, photographs, writings, authentic Civil War uniforms and cannons, among them a 12-lb. mountain Howitzer belonging to Eli Lilly’s 18th Indiana artillery and a one-pounder smoothbore cannon.
    • Interview: Manager Kenneth Johnson, MuseumRow@bardstowncable.net, 502-349-0291

    Bed & Breakfast Inns

    A Town of Bed and Breakfast Inns

    • Bardstown’s home away from home options include inns, cottages, Antebellum mansions, plantation home and winery, historic tavern (America’s oldest Western stagecoach stop), cottage hideaways and a jail cell and jailer’s residence with prisoner courtyard.

    Bardstown Ghost Treks

    Bardstown Ghost Treks

    • Led by internationally known Certified Ghost Hunter Patti Starr
    • 2-hour tours features visits to Old Talbott Tavern, Jailer’s Inn and Pioneer Cemetery
    • Saturdays June through October

    Holy Land Experience

    Holy Land Experience

    • The towns of Bardstown, Lebanon and Springfield together make Kentucky’s Holy Land
    • Includes the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the Abbey of Gethsemani, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Motherhouse and the Bardstown Art Gallery/Thomas Merton Bookstore
    • Visit KyHolyLand.org, that lists all the things to see and do

    Kentucky Railway Museum

    Kentucky Railway Museum

    • Located in New Haven (a short drive from Bardstown)
    • The only train-related attraction in the state with both a model layout and train excursions
    • See exhibits and climb aboard a restored passenger train, the L&N 152, on a 22-mile excursion through the Rolling Fork River Valley
    • 5,000-square-foot museum is a replica of the original brick L&N New Haven depot and holds more than 70 pieces of rail equipment, dining car exhibit, and a display of steam locomotive whistles
      Details: Lynn Kustes, Marketing Director, LKustes2546@gmail.com, 800-272-0152, 502-549-5470

    Julia Wickliffe Beckham

    Julia Wickliffe Beckham: The Woman Behind Three Governors

    • Julia is the only woman in the world to be the mother, sister and daughter of a governor.
    • All is revealed during Tea at Wickland, the home where she was born in 1835. She was married to Kentucky legislator William Netherton Beckham.

    Suggested Itineraries

    Click here to download sample itineraries, or get in touch with us to build a custom itinerary to fit your needs. 

    Image Library

    Please email Sam Lacy, Director of Social Media Marketing, for image requests.  Please use subject line “Image Request”.
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